Chicago Day Two - Sears Tower, Hancock Observatory

Today, after yesterdays success, and it being fairly sunny, I decided to try and find Sears Tower (The USA’s tallest building) and come home fresh in the knowledge I had ascended it. People were all trying to put me off going as the views from Sears weren’t as good as those from the Hancock observatory, which sits on the Magnificent Mile and gives nice views of the shore of Lake Michigan. I decided, seeing as how it was only $18 total to vist the two, I might as well do that….

Anyway, as I had already been along Michigan Avenue I decided to cut through the various roads cutting across one another to see where I could get to. I stumbled across Chicago’s Board Of Trade, which has been recommended as a place to visit prior to leaving and numberous other fancy pants buildings, malls and T.J.Maxx (don’t know why there’s a difference between J and K from US and UK). When I got to Sears Tower, as I’d bought tickets prior, I was able to skip queues and head right to the front. After enduring as history lesson and a stupid video in the elevator, ear popping and stupid kids screaming, I was at the top of Sears. The sights were all pretty amazing as I bet you can imagine – you can have a look at the photo for an idea.

Once I’d done Sears, I headed off to Hancock, but decided to visit several shops and malls on the way. I had the experience of entering an Apple store which was pretty cool. You can just wonder in and use the internet, listen to music etc etc. Anyway, I carried on. Hancocks intro was a little less well done than Sears, no video, not a lot of staff. Actually security wasn’t as tight either. *Pause* – several Fire Engines just have run down the street. The thing I suddenly realised is that the photos they take at the start aren’t for security, but rather to project the image of at the top of the building (both Sears and Hancock) for purchasing when you come back down. How daft is that?

Views were a little less exciting this time (possibly because I’d already seen something pretty similar!) but they have the added bonus of a skywalk – which means its exposed to what you would be able to hear if there was no windows or anything. It was quite a mash of everything going on at once though. The other cool thing was being able to see the stacking of planes coming into what I guess was O Hare airport, like a tiered approach.

After Hancock, I sat around outside drinking a massive smoothie before going into my last mall and realising how late it was. I went past Millenium Park and took a few more photos of the “jellybean” in the sun.

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Now however, I am thoroughly tired and my feet kill – and I have the excitement of my workshop to look forward to tomorrow!

The two photo’s show the Hancock Observatory as viewed from Sears and the Sears Tower as seen from the Hancock Observatory.